Thursday, May 22, 2008

Bangalore upset Chennai

Bangalore Royal Challengers picked up only their third Indian Premier League victory with a 14-run win over Chennai Super Kings in a low-scoring encounter on Wednesday.

Rahul Dravid's Royal Challengers - who already have no chance of reaching the semi-finals - looked to be on their way to their 10th defeat in the competition when they made just 126 for eight from their 20 overs after opting to bat first.

But the home team managed only 112 for eight in reply, with Anil Kumble claiming three for 14 and Dale Steyn two for 28.

The visitors must have feared the worst after being restricted to what was a new lowest score by a team who have batted out 20 overs in the IPL.

Dravid was the only Bangalore batsman to stick around for any period of time - long enough to notch 47 from 39 balls.

The former India captain received little in the way of support, with Praveen Kumar the next highest scorer among his team-mates with 21.

South African Albie Morkel was the pick of the Chennai bowlers, finishing with figures of four for 32 from his four overs.

Bangalore never looked like building a substantial total.

Openers Jacques Kallis (five) and Shreevats Goswami (10) fell cheaply and the wickets continued to tumble even when Dravid arrived and gave the innings a touch of stability.

Virat Kohli (10), Misbah-ul-Haq (four) and Mark Boucher (17) quickly came and went with Dravid watching on helplessly from the other end.

Dravid perished in the 17th over, caught at cover by Mahendra Singh Dhoni off the bowling of Morkel, with Praveen Kumar and Vinay Kumar (nought) falling in the final over.

Former New Zealand skipper Fleming top-scored for his team with 45 but, apart from Patel (24) and Suresh Raina (21 not out), nobody else contributed more than four as the hosts slumped to a meagre 112.